Apparatus used to make beverages from a solid component and a liquid component for distributing directly to the consumer are legion in number. One example is machines which meter a predetermined amount of powder and water to a mixing area. Another example is combination coffee grinders and brewers that are finding great acceptance from restaurants and the like. Brewing coffee directly from freshly ground beans in the same apparatus has considerable appeal. A typical combination grinding and brewing apparatus employs a hopper which upon a signal discharges beans into a proportioning device which measures the desired quantity of beans. The beans are then transferred to a grinder that grinds the beans to a desired consistency after which the ground coffee is delivered to a filter within the brewing basket immediately before hot water is sprayed over the grounds. A common feature in most apparatus of this type is the use of a sealing structure which prevents moisture emanating from the hot water tank and brewing basket from reaching the interior of the grinder assembly. Wetting of the grounds prior to reaching the brewing basket is undesirable, particularly when the grounds are still in the grinder itself. It causes problems with the proper distribution of the ground coffee to the brew basket and is difficult to clean.
A number of structures have been devised to prevent the egress of unwanted moisture into the grinder. An example may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,037 issued to Brian D. Newnan and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. In the patent, the passage between the grinder and the brew basket is conveniently sealed by a solenoid operated valve which is open during the grinding operation but closes when the grinder motor shuts down. The valve is a flap of material which is pivotally mounted, biased into a closed position and responsive to the movement of a solenoid plunger for opening the passageway. The valve can also be manually opened by use of a finger tab thus allowing access into the passageway for cleaning when required. The passageway itself is defined by an elbow shaped hood which serves to guide the coffee grounds when ejected from the grinder through the valve opening into the brew basket.
The aforementioned prior art valve is extremely suitable for the purpose intended, but does not meet the requirements of combination grinder brewers in which space is severely restricted. The pivoting action of the prior art valve and the linkage to the solenoid plunger require valuable space as does the passageway defined by the elbow shaped hood. It therefore would be desirable to have an apparatus having a valve assembly in which the moisture of the brewing operation could be sealed off during the brewing cycle without the sacrifice of valuable space while simultaneously maintaining good coffee ground dispersal across the filter paper within the brew basket. Additionally, the valve assembly should allow for easy manual access into the valve interior for cleaning and maintenance.